Sous vide duck breast, duck fat fries, cherry/wine reduction, smoked paprika olive oil pudding, roasted butternut squash

Duck breast is another sous vide winner.  It came out a perfect medium rare and was very tender and moist with a nice crispy skin.  I finished it of in a pan to render out some fat and then with the kitchen torch to give it a nice sear.  I had some leftover olive oil pudding in the fridge and wasn't quite sure what to do with it so I decided to add some smoked paprika to it.  This gave it a nice smokiness but it wasn't quite what I wanted so I pulled out my smoking gun www.cuisinetechnology.com/the-smoking-gun.php and added some more smoke to it and that did the trick.  The perfect accompaniment to duck fat fries.

sous vide duck breast
1 duck breast
salt
pepper
smoked paprika

Dry breast completely with paper towel and if possible leave uncovered in fridge for an hour.  Season with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika, and vacuum seal on high.  Heat sous vide bath to 135F and cook for 2 hours.  Pan sear skin side to render out some fat and crisp skin and finish off with a kitchen torch.

duck fat fries
3-4 yukon white potatoes
peanut oil for deep frying
duck fat
salt

I cut the fries with my new benriner mandoline.  Be careful, this thing is sharp and I cut my finger but it works extremely well.  I deep fried in peanut oil at 350F until almost golden brown, removed and salted, and drained on a cooling rack.  I then gave them a pan fry in the rendered duck fat.  I didn't have enough duck fat to deep fry but this worked pretty well.

cherry/wine reduction
juices from sous vide duck
1 cup 100% cherry juice (don't use the 10% juice stuff)
1 cup zinfandel
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp diced shallot
1 bay leaf
salt
pepper

Add all ingredients to sauce pan, reduce by half, strain, and reduce some more until thick.  Keep warm until ready to use

roasted squash
1 butternut squash
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp smoked paprika
salt
pepper

Peel and cut squash into 1/2 inch dice.  Spread evenly in one layer in glass or corning baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil, and season with smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.  Bake at 500F for 35-40 minutes.  This gives the squash a nice crust and makes it very soft inside.

smoked paprika olive oil pudding
2 tbsp olive oil pudding (recipe in earlier post)
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt

Combine olive oil pudding and smoked paprika and give a good smoke with smoking gun.  To do this I put it in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, inserted hose, filled with smoke and then let sit for a bit to suck up that smoky flavor.  I used applewood sawdust for the smoke.

To serve I sliced the duck, covered with cherry/wine reduction, fries, butternut squash, smoked paprika olive oil pudding, and a faux egg